This invention relates to ready-to-wear orthotic supports and, particularly, to orthopedic garments of the torso encircling-type, for providing lumbo-sacral support.
A wide variety of lumbo-sacral support constructions are known. The supports should be capable of providing controlled circumferential compression to the lumbar, sacral and abdominal regions to lift and compress the abdomen while stabilizing lumbar and sacral muscles and ligaments, decreasing ligamentous and muscular stress on and compression of the vertebrae, and assisting in positioning the pelvis in a position of pelvic tilt.
All back problems are or at least have the potential to be serious. Back supports can basically be divided into three categories, rigid supports such as Knight Taylor braces and body jackets; semi-rigid supports usually made of a non-stretch canvas-type fabric which include rigid shaped steels; and firm supports made of flexible resilient materials which may or may not include shaped steels or plastic stays and are usually provided with releasable hook and loop fastening means. The type of support prescribed or recommended for a patient may take many factors into consideration: diagnosis, age, physical condition, tolerance to bracing, lifestyle, etc. For example, in the United States, an L1 fracture in a young person may only require a Firm Support because they heal fast and are not so prone to falling, while for the same diagnosis probably a semi-rigid or even rigid brace would be recommended for an older person as it is going to take longer for the fracture to heal and there is a higher incidence of falling.
Firm supports are also known as soft goods garments and include one-piece, two-way stretch girdles intended to improve posture and the like. Others have elaborate panel and strap arrangements to pull in abdomen and buttocks areas, support sagging muscles, and the like. Quite often, firm support garments are uncomfortable to wear, apply pressure at unnecessary places and do not provide sufficient pressure at desired parts of the anatomy. Adjustment of many soft good garments for tensioning, shape and support are often inconvenient, or not wholly effective.
Among the more simple lumbo-sacral support devices are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,175,553 and 3,717,143. The orthopedic garment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,553 includes a removable lumbo-sacral-orthosis which cannot, however, be positioned at a desired region of the pain unless the pain occurs in that portion of the back directly under the removable orthosis. In addition, there is no provision for providing additional compression except through the use of the lumbo-sacral-orthosis. The orthopedic garment in U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,143 includes vertical stays which are bent to conform to the wearer's lower torso and two straps which are fixedly attached to the garment at the top and bottom edges. The straps are provided to firmly secure the corset at the proper place about the lower part of the torso.